Scouting the Wild

Updated: April 30, 2013 - 7:06 AM

Left: When Matt Cullen was hot during a six-week stretch, the Wild vaulted up the Western Conference standings. But a knee injury forced him to miss six games in April, and the team suffered. Michael Mulvey • Associated Press

Parise visibly lights up when he talks about the playoffs, and we may not have seen the best of him yet. The man who looks like the Tasmanian Devil the way his legs always are churning, Parise led the Wild with 18 goals and 38 points and finished third in the NHL with 182 shots. The Wild will desperately need the first-line left winger to come through in the clutch alongside captain Mikko Koivu and rookie Charlie Coyle.

Ryan Suter

Starting to gain momentum as a Norris Trophy front-runner as the league’s top defenseman, Suter was just as advertised when the Wild signed him last summer in a tag team with Parise. A workhorse who led the NHL by logging a franchise-record 27 minutes, 16 seconds a game, Suter knows what it’s like to play a playoff game in Chicago. Paired with rookie Jonas Brodin, he will have to go head-to-head with Chicago’s slew of stars.

NIKLAS BACKSTROM

Simply put, it doesn’t matter how much offense the Wild generates or how well it defends if Backstrom isn’t the backbone. We have seen the best of Backstrom this season and the worst, and lately he has shown signs of a goaltender who was overworked, having started 30 of the final 32 games. Backstrom tied for the league lead with 24 victories but ranked 23rd in goals-against average (2.48) and 28th in save percentage (.909). He must stand tall if the Wild is to have a chance.

ONE UNSUNG HERO

MATT CULLEN

The veteran center is so critical to the Wild’s success. We saw for six weeks this season that when the Wild began to soar, so did Cullen, who developed incredible chemistry with linemate Devin Setoguchi. Cullen, one of two Wild players to win a Stanley Cup (Mike Rupp is the other), had 24 points during one 28-game stretch. In seven games since returning from a knee injury, he had two assists.

BREAKING IT DOWN

Offense

Bluntly, it doesn’t come easy. The Wild, playing without injured goal-scorer Dany Heatley, has the capability to make any goaltender look like a Vezina Trophy winner. There was a 16-game stretch in which the Wild scored 58 goals (three or more in 11 games), but other than that, it’s been tough sledding. The Wild desperately need Jason Pominville to return from an injury and for Kyle Brodziak and Cal Clutterbuck to chip in.